WORLD WATCH.

CONGO Optimistic park officials hope that Virunga...

May 13, 2001|By Larry Habegger and James O'Reilly.

CONGO

Optimistic park officials hope that Virunga National Park in northeastern Congo will reopen soon, but it's hard to imagine that many visitors will be eager to go until security can be assured. Tourism officials and wildlife guides face an uphill struggle with news that the civil war, which has abated but could reignite any time, has caused the deaths of 2 1/2 million.

MACEDONIA

Clashes between security forces and Albanian rebels have intensified recently and may prompt the government to declare a state of war, which could create a backlash among ethnic Albanians and further destabilize the country. Incidents of ethnic violence have already occurred in Bitola and Skopje.

PHILIPPINES

The riots in Manila that followed the arrest of former president Joseph Estrada have passed, order has been restored, and the state of rebellion has been lifted, so travel in the Philippines should be returning to normal. The situation could remain tense, however.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

Ethnic conflict has abated under the terms of a peace agreement signed in October, but severe economic hardship and the presence of hundreds of automatic weapons in the hands of former fighters suggest that the peace could unravel at any time.